Staying active to avoid falls in the time of Covid
How the pandemic may affect older adults’ risk for injury and what to do about it
Many of us will remember the year 2020 as the year when time stood still: work projects delayed, vacations canceled, school adjourned, and weddings postponed. The pandemic has affected everyone, but it’s been especially burdensome for older generations, who are at a significantly higher risk for Covid-related health risks. Seniors disproportionately face potentially life-threatening effects from the virus itself. They also face other health consequences from the commonly recommended precautions to avoid exposure to the virus.
We all aspire to age gracefully while staying healthy and independent. We can do many things to better our chances for “good” aging. We know that social support, lifestyle, and habits can significantly (negatively or positively) affect our physical and mental well-being as we get older. In particular, physical activity is one of the most beneficial things we can do to remain healthier in our old age.
“If exercise could be packaged in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.” — Robert Butler, National Institute on Aging
Physical activity doesn’t just include planned exercise designed to promote flexibility, strength, cardiovascular fitness, and so forth. Even daily walks, gardening work, and other group activities help improve our overall health and well-being. However, thanks to the lockdown and other restrictions of 2020, many older adults had to adjust these healthy habits. In most cases, their activity levels declined. This may well impact their overall health and fitness (in addition to the effects of isolation experienced by older adults who have missed social events, family visits, etc.). Some of these adverse effects may be reversible after the country re-opens with adequate safety protocols in place. Still, there is an additional risk that may be relevant for public health considerations: falls.
Millions of people over 65 years of age fall each year in the U.S. Falling is the prevalent cause of accidental death in older adults and leads to millions of injuries, many requiring hospitalization. The total number of older adults will increase significantly over the next decade. Unfortunately, so will the number of falls. This development will lead to a tremendous burden on the health care system, not to mention severe pain and hardship for individuals and their families.
Research has shown that many things increase the risk of falling, including individuals’ health conditions, medications, deterioration of the body senses, a decline in cognitive capacity, or loss of strength. However, physical activity and exercise are powerful and efficient countermeasures to such decline and associated fall risk. Unfortunately, the pandemic has lead to a decrease in physical activity levels in many older adults. It’s easy to project how the number of registered falls among seniors will increase in the short-term due to several related factors:
- Less physical activity (including activities of daily living and exercise) due to Covid restrictions leads to a decline of physical function
- Risk of falling increases, both at home and when individuals start participating in outdoor activities and social life again
- Individuals who DO fall may be temporarily restricted from physical activity due to injury and may also develop a fear of falling
- As a result, individuals may avoid social activities and exercise, which not only increases the risk for future falls but may also lead to other severe health consequences
The potential rise in the number of falls due to the pandemic is unknown yet. Still, considering what we know about the harmful effects of a lack of physical activity, we can expect a further rise in the aging population’s fall rates.
Unfortunately, Covid-related restrictions are likely to be around through at least part of 2021, if not longer. Pandemic-related measures may continue to restrict older adults’ regular physical activity and lead to further adverse health consequences. There’s an urgent need to address this problem, both now and for future public health crises. One way to tackle the issue is to teach more older adults about staying active at home, focusing on general health and fall prevention. Many younger individuals have changed their routines and figured out home exercise solutions (some even prefer working out at home over going to the gym now!). That’s why fitness equipment has been selling out in stores, and sales of interactive exercise bikes, computerized treadmills, and high-tech exercise mirrors have gone up.
Considering the importance of physical activity, especially for the aging population, we should promote home workout programs. We should provide seniors with the tools and knowledge they need to overcome reluctance to exercise and fear of injury. Although home-based physical activity isn’t perfect (working out at home alone isn’t the same as meeting up with other people and enjoying the outdoors), it’s far better than nothing. We need to develop and promote a suitable range of home activity routines to improve healthy aging and prevent falls!
